Water Warriors Escalate Actions Against Fracked Gas Plant

“This is the spirit of the people fighting back!” Dakota Case (Puyallup Nation)

Dec 18 2017 Seattle, WA – Over the past week, water protectors fighting against the construction of a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at the Port of Tacoma have escalated their actions to stop its construction.

Puget Sound Energy, the company building the plant, has continued to build the fracked gas storage facility without obtaining all of its permits for construction and without having engaged in consultation, nor received consent, from the Puyallup Tribe whose lands the facility is being built upon.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE), who is owned by Canadian and Australian investors, want to build a 140 foot, 8 million gallon LNG storage tank with production capability of 500,000 gallons LNG per day. LNG is fracked natural gas in a liquid state. To reach the liquid state, the fracked gas is cooled to -260 degrees Fahrenheit (°F).

While PSE has received a Notice of Violation by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for failure to obtain a Notice of Construction approval prior to construction, PSE has continued to build the plant.

The facility is opposed by the Puyallup Tribe, Tacoma residents and water protectors who have held numerous rallies, marches, attending hearings, held direct actions and more over the past year in attempt to stop the construction.

Starting last Monday, the direct actions have escalated.

NoLNG released the following, “What an incredible eight days of fighting against PSE’s LNG facility!

Last Monday, activists climbed a crane to stop construction of the Tacoma LNG facility. On Thursday, activists used tripods to block all three gates to the site. That same day, a Tacoma jury, finding that they couldn’t determine whether the LNG facility is on Puyallup or City of Tacoma-owned land, acquitted two women who locked down to construction equipment.

Then today, almost 200 activists blocked all entrances to the constructions site.

Thank you to Puyallup Tribal Members Public Page, Native Daily Network, Protectors of the Salish Sea, Redefine Tacoma, Tacoma Direct Action, 350 Tacoma, 350 Seattle, and Backbone Campaign for making all of this possible.

Parents, grandmothers and other concerned citizens used chains to lock themselves together and to the gates of the construction site. Work was halted until the early afternoon, when they police moved in and arrested two tribal members.

Despite the vocal and legal opposition of the Puyallup Nation, Puget Sound Energy is trying to build this facility anyway. Despite not having proper permits, Puget Sound Energy is trying to build this facility anyway. If PSE succeeds, the air, water and salmon of the Puyallup Nation will be polluted. The 1854 Medicine Creek Treaty will have been violated. The voices of Indigenous people will have been ignored and pushed aside. As they have been for centuries.

But for as long as PSE tries to force through this project, we will oppose it with everything we have. For as long as PSE tries to push aside the concerns of the Puyallup, we will stand with the Puyallup.

We hope that you will join us. To start, please join 44,000 others in signing this petition:”